Page 80 of Highland Jewel
He kissed her and she kissed him back. She believed him.
But she still wanted to know what secret he harbored inside. Murmurs surrounded Niall’s presence, and she could see people like Isabella and Cinaed and even Searc felt a true connection with him. Maisie wanted to be included. He was her husband. She had the right to know.
Later, Maisie climbed the stone steps two at a time until she reached the top of the stone tower. A hard rain had fallen throughout the night, but early this morning the clouds had parted, and Dalmigavie Castle was now bathed in bright sunshine.
From her favorite vantage point, she could see the entire area. Best of all, she could look into the training yard just beyond the castle’s brewhouse.
She’d seen Isabella by the Great Hall before coming up here. Her sister had asked Maisie to join her and Morrigan for a walk through the village. Isabella’s reputation as a doctor was already spreading, and she saw patients almost daily in the castle. She’d set up an infirmary room that frequently kept her busy in the afternoons. Most mornings, however, Isabella went down the hill to care for the old and infirm of the village who could not make it to the castle. Cinaed always accompanied her on those trips, but today he’d planned to spend the entire morning with Niall, who was training a group of Mackintosh fighters in the ways of the English regiments.
Leaning out over the parapet, Maisie spotted the men, stripped to the waist and sparring in the trainingyard. Bodies slammed with thuds and slaps and shouts she could hear even at this distance. She saw Niall right away. He and Cinaed stood side by side. They were the same height. They had the same powerful build. Cinaed was dark, with long wavy hair. Niall was fair, and the gold strands in his hair gleamed in the sunlight. They were like two gods, preparing their battalions for war against an army of titans.
Maisie was distracted from her reveries by the sight of a lad in rags streaking toward the gate from the village. Boys and girls running about was not unusual here, but the poor condition of the boy’s attire struck her as odd. She watched as he came through the gate and paused, looking about furtively. With the exception of his shabby clothes, he could have been any farm lad. No one paid the least attention to him. But to Maisie, his nervousness was evident.
She walked along the parapet, following his progress. He walked slowly past the smithy, his eyes scanning the courtyard. Then, with a quick glance behind him, he raced across the open space toward the arched entry into the garden. He was almost directly below her when he stopped just a few paces from the garden. He stared in at something. Or someone.
Beneath the arch, nearly hidden from her, something moved. A man was waiting in the shadows. She leaned forward to see who it was, but her vision was obstructed by the stonework forming the entryway. The boy reached into his ragged jerkin and produced a small, flat pouch, which he held out in front of him before stepping tentatively closer. The man beneath the arch took it and handed a packet back to the boy, tossing a coin into the dirt for him.
The lad ran off toward the gate, and Maisie leanedfarther out over the edge, hoping to get a glimpse of whoever was hiding there.
The sound of a shot from the training yard startled her, and Maisie glanced up to see Niall standing with a pistol, gesturing with his other hand as he explained something. When she looked back down, whoever had been under the arch was gone. She quickly walked along the parapet, searching the courtyard below for the man who might have come from there. No one looked out of place.
Perhaps it was nothing, but it definitely looked like messages being passed.
She needed to go and meet Isabella and Morrigan, who were probably waiting for her right now. Maisie hurried down the stairs. She had to stop in her room and get her spencer jacket before meeting the others.
As she reached the bottom of the stairs, a dark form emerged unexpectedly from the deep shadow. He lunged at her, and a hot, piercing pain shot through her. As she sank to her knees, she gazed down uncomprehendingly at the handle of a knife jutting out from her waist.
CHAPTER32
Niall didn’t know where the shouts and cries were coming from or what they were about, but in an instant, Blair and all the men in the training yard were running toward the castle keep. He stayed with Cinaed and ran beside him. He knew that creating a diversion was a strategic tool in war. This commotion could have been arranged so that someone could get at Cinaed.
“Stabbed!”
“Blood everywhere!”
“Dead!”
Cries rang out through the courtyard as they ran. People were crowding around a door leading to the Great Hall, blocking the way. Snatches of information reached him as he and Cinaed pushed through.
“… at the bottom of the stairwell… the old tower… she’s dead… to the doctor…”
She. She.Suddenly, Niall felt his head about to explode.
“Maisie! Where is Maisie?” He shoved through people, who quickly made way for him.
“Who?” Cinaed was shouting beside him. “Who was stabbed?”
“The doctor’s sister,” someone called out. “Dead.”
A roar burst out of him. Niall couldn’t see. Couldn’t hear. He ripped through people blocking the path and found his way to the steps.
Searc was waiting when he and Cinaed got through. “It’s Maisie. Someone stabbed the lass. Isabella has her.”
“Where is she? Where?” Niall’s shout echoed off the high walls.
“Her medical room.”
Pushing past, Niall raced through the castle corridors. A trail of blood showed the path. Maisie’s blood. This was his fault. He’d let them take his sister, and now they went for Maisie. It was retaliation. It had to be.
